So we've been profiling the wonderful, wild and wacky holiday hotel decorations and we think that this holiday display at the Walt Disney Swan and Dolphin Hotel is all three. That's because they've just unveiled a 1,200-pound life-sized CHOCOLATE Santa Claus accompanied by an armchair, fireplace and Christmas tree, all made out of chocolate!

The sculpture is the creation of the hotel's executive pastry chef and only two-time world champion pastry chef, Laurent Branlard. Here are some stats on the work that went into this:

· Man Hours: 300 hours
· Dark Chocolate: 880 lbs.
· Milk Chocolate: 132 lbs.
· White Chocolate: 154 lbs.
· Cocoa Butter: 120 lbs.

]]> juliana 2010-12-10T16:00:05-05:00 http://www.hotelchatter.com/story/2009/2/23/221856/467

We've stayed at the likes of Gleneagles, as well as a fabulous little hostel in Tarifa, but no hotel has managed to provide us with as much fun as a stay at a Disney World resort.

While we haven't stayed here ourselves, it seems from TripAdvisor reviews that there's few better places to stay in Orlando than at Pop Century Resort, which is sort of like I Love The 80's (and in the case of some rooms, 90's) in hotel form. ]]> jennm 2009-02-25T11:34:44-05:00 28.3463128 -81.542695 http://www.hotelchatter.com/story/2007/12/19/34837/409 <![CDATA[<img src="http://www.hotelchatter.com/files/3873/WinETastingDisney.jpg" class="imgborder"><p> <p>Seems like last year's <a href="http://www.hotelchatter.com/story/2006/10/10/123233/43/hotels/Walt+Disney%27s+Swan+and+Dolphin+Resort+Gets+a+%2460+Million+Upgrade">$60 million upgrade</a> of the <a href="http://www.hotelchatter.com/hotel-reviews/Walt+Disney+World+Dolphin/local/1028"><b>Walt Disney Swan and Dolphin Resort</b></a> wasn't enough to impress all of their guests: now they've taken service to new extremes and you can get your own personal, certified sommelier to take care of your wine drinking while you're staying at the resort, because, of course, that's the kind of thing you have in mind when you book into a Disney hotel.</p><p>The resort itself describes the personal sommelier program as an experience "designed to subtly educate guests and elevate the wine and culinary experience" by giving you somebody to advise you on every single wine you drink. "Subtly educate" sounds like it belongs back in communist amandak 2007-12-19T08:57:47-05:00 http://www.hotelchatter.com/story/2006/7/19/164647/880

High gas prices must be dampening summer travel, because this $79 deal from Royal Plaza Disney Hotel is a rare bargain.

Conventional wisdom says that finding a weekend hotel deal in the summer in Orlando is akin to looking for a 50 cent hot dog at Disney World (despite the muggy heat that often plagues Central Florida this time of the year.)So we were surprised to see this $79 promotional rate from the hotel.

Fresh off a renovation, this official Disney hotel offers complimentary transportation to the parks, a pool and fitness center, and plenty of room for the kiddies to spread around their mouse ears and overpriced stuffed toys.

More on how to get this rate after the jump

]]> Tim L. 2006-07-20T09:20:02-05:00 28.376802 -81.506783 http://www.hotelchatter.com/story/2006/3/14/153527/782 <![CDATA[<p><img src="http://www.hotelchatter.com/files/admin/grand_floridian08.jpg"><p><b>[Ed. Note: For this Good Rate/Bad Rate feature, the screenshot shown was taken on March 14, 2006 from <a href="http://www.travelocity.com">Travelocity</a> and rates are subject to change. Enjoy.]</b><p>We don't like ripping on Walt Disney resorts and we don't like making fun of the Mouse House. After all, a good chunk of our childhood was spent wishing on a star, watching Disney movies over and over and over, and forcing our parents to buy us anything with Mickey and Minnie plastered on it. (Although, we drew the line at the mouse ears with our names scripted on the front. We're not that geeky!)<p>But the <a href="http://www.disney.ca/vacations/disneyworld/II/B/11"><b>Grand Floridian Resort &amp; Spa</b></a> is begging for it.<p>The hotel is currently charging $360 for a juliana 2006-03-14T16:11:12-05:00 28.3991320 -81.584139 Search HotelChatter string http://www.hotelchatter.com/search/